Google Assistant Pixel 2 Troubleshooting Feature Appears In Preview

Google Pixel 2 owners can now get help troubleshooting their smartphone using Google's own personal assistant app, at least unofficially. The feature appears to work for both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL phones, but not for other handsets with the app. The person who spotted the ability is located in the US and running a developers preview of Android Oreo 8.1.

It isn't clear how widely available this feature is to Pixel 2 owners; many say they don't have access to the troubleshooting support, indicating that it may be limited to the dev preview at the moment. Whether it will soon arrive on all Pixel phones isn't known, as well as whether it will get support for models from other companies.

Speaking to Android Police, one Pixel 2 XL owner states that he is running Android Oreo 8.1 dev preview and, upon asking Google Assistant why his phone's charging was acting up, the app kicked off a troubleshooting feature. Screenshots shared of the process show Google Assistant with the phrase "Starting Troubleshooting..." followed by asking, "Is it okay if I check a few things?"

Give Assistant permission and it will begin looking into the phone, specifically the part of it that is giving issues. In the case of this one user, Assistant looked into the Pixel 2's battery, looking at its health and whether any apps were draining it. Finding neither issue, it then asked questions to narrow down the problem.

Upon failing to find a solution to the problem, Google Assistant then asks if the user wants to be connected to Google Support for more help. This can be done either through chat or over the phone. It's an interesting feature for sure, but one that doesn't have any official announcements or documentation, indicating that it is still a work in progress at this point.